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Wednesday, 11 July 2012

Stop the GR Bullies: Stalking, Tantrums and Bullying

It seems a new site has been started called Stop the GR Bullies, aimed at book reviewers at Goodreads.
It seems to be author driven in response to the many many trainwrecks
we have see all too often; you know the kind, an author sees a
less-than-shining review and unwisely decides to responds - frequently
leading to cringeworthy temper tantrums and shocking behaviour.There
is a lesson these authors seem to be sorely missing. They are
producing a product and they are producing a work of art. The first
means that people will review and critique the product they bought (as
is their right), the second means that, given the subjective nature of
artwork, some people will not like it - in fact some will loathe it and
they will say so. They will never please everyone all of the time and
it is no-one’s duty to lavish praise when it is not deserves. The book
is not their baby, it is not something precious and special that needs
to be treated gently - it is a product that is being sold and, like any
other product we buy, if it’s awful - be that new furniture or a
takeaway pizza - then we will say so, quite possibly in intemperate and
scathing terms. Books are not a special category that makes them
somehow untouchable.That
is not bullying. This is critiquing. This is reviewing. This has been
going on not just with artwork, but with every and all products since
the beginning of time. It is actually insulting and offensive to call
this bullying, especially at a time when we are seeing so much more
attention to the growing bullying rates among schools and the horrendous
rate of teen suicide it causes. To try and invoke this imagery because
people are criticising your book? No, really, that’s not on.On to the drama reports - which is one of the things they’ve accused Cuddlebuggery of. Now, I actually read Cuddlebuggery,
partly because it’s amusing, partly to keep my eye out for decent
books and, yes, partly because I want to have a heads up if an author
is going to explode into chunks of messy outrage should I review one of
their books and find it less than utterly perfect. And, yes, I will be
avoiding that author, why would I seek them out? And I will say that,
yes, they’re snarky, yes they can be (justly) harsh but they are never
anything but honest - and every single one of those drama posts they’ve
written have been a direct, honest report of actual poor author
behaviour (which is considerably more honest than the highly skewed and
dubious accounts Stop the GR Bullies has written, to be honest) and
they include links back for you to see the authors in all their failing
glory.You
are not being bullied if someone honestly reports your actions. If you
show your arse to the world and people point out that your butt cheeks
are on display, it’s not their fault that everyone is commenting on
it, criticising it and disapprove of your arse bare to the winds. You
are facing the consequences of your actions and your utter lack of
professionalism; not being bullied.Also,
let us add that you’re not being “driven off goodreads” by these mean
critics. If someone criticises your book, even harshly, that is not
driving you off. If you respond to a negative review (which is already
foolish) and people continue to criticise and, yes, even mock, that is
not driving you off. If your dubious, unprofessional and unacceptable
behaviour is reported and people mock you for it, that is not driving
you off. If you leave in these conditions you are not being driven off -
you are flouncing.But,
you know what? Even if these reviewers were tearing up your precious,
even if they said some truly hurtful, mean and even personal things.
Even then this site would still be beyond the pale. At Stop the Goodread
Bulllies, they go to extreme lengths to attack their critics. I
actually would run out of space trying to list their terrible behaviour -
and I am in two minds of linking to their site because of what they’ve
written there:They
post the real name (and if they don’t have it, they keep looking),
home city and, if they can find one, photograph (again, if they can’t
find one, they keep looking) of the people they’re attacking. This is
already frightening and, frankly, dangerous; but they then compound
that by listing their place of work, they even go so far as to list the
bars and cafes they visit, the walks they take - and their schedule.